An interventional study of HealthyTogether in Obesity and Overweight, sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development. Recruiting at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-01.
Sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
Among 54 studies in Obesity by VA Office of Research and Development — 9 open to participants now, 13 under way, none of them phase 3. Obesity · VA Office of Research and Development.
Among the 54 studies in Obesity by VA Office of Research and Development, this one is the 10th largest by planned enrollment of the 52 interventional ones, is one of 3 that started in 2025, is one of 47 with no phase, reaches primary completion later than 4 of the 12 other live ones, and was the 48th registered.
11,522 studies on the registry are indexed under Obesity; 2,033 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 320 is above the median of 67 across 9,006 interventional studies indexed under Obesity.
Browse Obesity studies →9 of the 54 studies in Obesity by VA Office of Research and Development are open now, in 1 country. Each count lists the studies.
Of the 1,336 Obesity studies recruiting now, 377 (28%) set no upper age limit and 856 (64%) stop at 75 or younger; 168 take children under 18; 491 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 18 Years and older · all sexes · healthy volunteers too.
The full table on the hub →54 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
First in 2005; this study’s year is marked. 3 started in 2025.
Median enrollment 122 across the 52 interventional studies, 69 across the 2 observational. Of the 39 that completed or were terminated, 34 (87%) have results posted.
VA Office of Research and Development is the lead sponsor of 1,771 studies on the registry; 392 are open to participants now.
Of its 213 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 185 (87%) have results posted.
2 of the studies in Obesity by VA Office of Research and Development that are under way reach primary completion within a year, 0 of them phase 3. Phase 3 first, then by date:
| Study | Primary completion |
|---|---|
| NCT05225233VA Office of Research and DevelopmenttDCS With Cognitive Training to Reduce Impulsivity and Weight in Veterans With Obesity | 2026-12-31 |
| NCT06619041VA Office of Research and DevelopmentHealthyTogether: RCT of a Dyadic Weight Management Intervention | 2027-09-30 |
Among the 54 studies in Obesity by VA Office of Research and Development, from their registry updates:
Four in five Veterans have overweight or obesity. However, few eligible Veterans achieve meaningful weight loss in VA's national MOVE! Weight Management Program. Family and friends strongly influence a person's health behaviors and weight. Including a close family member or friend in weight management may improve weight management outcomes. This study will test whether an 14-week, 8-session virtual weight management program that includes Veterans and a support person (e.g., family member or friend) leads to weight loss. The investigators will also test whether the program leads to improvements in weight-related health behaviors, including physical activity and diet, and relationship quality.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is more than 80% among VA users, increasing risk of morbidity and mortality. In 2006, VA nationally implemented the MOVE! Weight Management Program, an evidence-based behavioral weight management program. Effectiveness of MOVE! is suboptimal: \<20% of all participants and only 30% of those with intense and sustained participation achieve clinically meaningful weight loss. Furthermore, only 8-9% of eligible Veterans attend any MOVE! sessions and, among those who do, half attend only a single session. Taken together, \<2% of the 3.2 million eligible Veterans lose clinically meaningful weight in MOVE!. Therefore, additional weight management approaches are needed to address obesity at the VA population-level.
One strategy to improve behavioral weight management effectiveness is by leveraging social relationships. Social support improves weight management program initiation, retention, and short and long-term weight loss and is also a major driver of weight-related behaviors, such as physical activity and diet quality. However, social relationships can also impede weight management, for example, when close others (e.g., family and friends) undermine or do not support behavior change. The key to addressing this double-edged sword of social relationships may be through dyadic approaches that include close others in behavioral weight management with a focus on improving communication and relationship quality.
HealthyTogether is a brief, virtual weight management program for Veterans and a close other ("partner"). Over 14 weeks, individual dyads receive 8 hour-long video sessions with a clinician. Session content includes physical activity, diet, and weight management medication education; goal setting; and relationship and communication skills training and practice, informed by evidence-based dyadic treatments. This study is a two-site hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial with a primary focus on evaluating effectiveness of HealthyTogether and a secondary focus on understanding determinants of implementation. The aims of the trial are:
Considering the burden of overweight and obesity in VA and the limited reach and effectiveness of MOVE!, HealthyTogether has the potential to address multiple VA priorities: mitigate obesity-related chronic disease and involve family in Veterans' care. Study findings will inform VA National Center Health for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention efforts to expand effective, evidence-based weight management services for Veterans.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Veteran participants:
Partner participants:
Exclusion Criteria:
Veterans are excluded if:
Partners are excluded if:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Receives the brief, virtual, dyadic HealthyTogether weight management intervention in addition to usual care.
Behavioral: HealthyTogether
Receives a brief letter with information about weight management and couples/family resources in addition to usual care.
HealthyTogether is a brief (8-session), virtual, dyadic weight management intervention.
Change in weight from Baseline to 6-months among Veterans
Weight is measured using a study-provided scale during a scheduled virtual study visit. Veterans will either (1) display the weight on the scale to study staff or (2) take a picture of the weight on the scale with a digital device and show the weight to study staff. For weight measurements at both timepoints, we will instruct participants to weigh themselves in light clothing and no shoes, with the scale on a hard, flat surface. We will record date and time of weight assessments and will make every attempt to collect follow-up weights at a similar time of day as baseline.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in weight from Baseline to 6-months among Veterans (using EHR-data)
We will collect supplementary EHR-based weights from for all Veteran participants. We will use the EHR weight closest to 182 days +/- 60 days post-baseline. While the primary outcome is limited to Veterans with study team measured weight, secondary analyses will be conducted among all participants with available weight outcomes (staff verified and/or EHR-based).
Time frame: 6-months
Change in weight from Baseline to 6-months among partners
Weight is measured using a study-provided scale during a scheduled virtual study visit. Partners will either (1) display the weight on the scale to study staff or (2) take a picture of the weight on the scale with a digital device and show the weight to study staff. We will record date and time of weight assessments and will make every attempt to collect follow-up weights at a similar time of day as baseline.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in weight from Baseline to 12-months among Veterans (using EHR data)
Baseline weight is measured using a study-provided scale during a scheduled virtual study visit. To examine durability of intervention effects while minimizing participant burden, we will also obtain EHR-based weights at 12 months, using weights collected 365 days +/- 90 days post-baseline among only Veterans.
Time frame: 12-months
Change in self-reported diet quality from Baseline to 6-months among Veterans
This outcome is measured by self-report using the eight-item Starting the Conversation measure.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in self-reported diet quality from Baseline to 6-months among partners
This outcome is measured by self-report using the eight-item Starting the Conversation measure.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in physical activity from Baseline to 6-months among Veterans
This outcome is measured by self-report using the 9-item International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in physical activity from Baseline to 6-months among partners
This outcome is measured by self-report using the 9-item International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in relationship quality from Baseline to 6 months among Veterans
This outcome is assessed by self-report with the seven-item Relationship Assessment Scale, revised for non-romantic relationships.
Time frame: 6-months
Change in relationship quality from Baseline to 6 months among partners
This outcome is assessed by self-report with the seven-item Relationship Assessment Scale, revised for non-romantic relationships.
Time frame: 6-months
Plan to share: No — Data will be made available outside VA in response to a properly prepared Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the VA Puget Sound FOIA Officer, or submitted and passed down to the facility FOIA Officer from higher VA authority (e.g. VISN 20 or Central Office). Such requests will be evaluated in terms of protecting potential intellectual property value and rights of VA and its employees, collaborators and research sponsors, and any other proprietary or security concerns, including protection of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI), terms of Confidentiality Agreements or other such restrictions and protections.
Started Jul 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 26 months after the start.
Of 3,680 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Obesity, half reached primary completion within 23 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 43. This study's planned 26 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 3,843 studies reached it within 22 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 42.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
VA Office of Research and Development →